Leo Kessler Books in Order

As Germany prepares its 1943 offensive at Kursk, the soldiers of Wotan face Soviet defenses and a clash of armored forces. Their new Tiger tanks confront Russian T-34s in a battle that could decide the eastern campaign.

Wotan marches east during Operation Barbarossa, expecting victory against the Soviet Union. As the campaign stretches into the Russian winter, von Dodenburg and his soldiers face conditions that threaten to destroy the regiment.

In early 1940, Wotan trains for a secret mission against the Belgian fortress of Eben Emael. Its soldiers must overcome the defenses guarding key waterways to open a route for Germany’s invasion of France.

In September 1944, von Dodenburg’s Wotan battle group is assigned to defend Aachen against advancing American forces. Fighting moves from tank engagements outside the city to close combat in its ruined streets.

Trapped in the fighting around Monte Cassino, Wotan’s battered survivors face repeated Allied attacks. Von Dodenburg must find a way to save his remaining men while uncovering a traitor within their ranks.

During Germany’s final major western offensive in the winter of 1944, Wotan advances through the Ardennes toward a bridge over the Meuse. Colonel von Dodenburg leads the depleted battle group on a desperate mission.

In the winter of 1942, German agents seek Cossack leader Alexei Bogdan to recruit his people against Stalin. The promise of a homeland draws the Cossacks into a dangerous alliance with Hitler’s forces.

Recovering from the Russian campaign, Wotan expects a period of training and rest. Instead, an urgent assignment sends the regiment to defend a coastal battery at Dieppe against an anticipated British raid.

As Germany retreats in 1944, Bogdan’s Cossacks become entangled in the destruction of Warsaw. Realizing that German rule offers no true freedom, their leader must find a path toward independence and survival.

After the Ardennes fighting, the battered soldiers of SS Regiment Wotan face another winter campaign. Schulze leads them through Hungary's frozen Vertes Mountains toward Budapest, where Soviet forces and the terrain turn the assignment into a struggle for survival.

This military history examines the SS Panzer divisions during the final years of the Second World War. It follows their organization and combat operations from 1943 to 1945 on both the eastern and western fronts.

With Germany collapsing in 1945, Bogdan’s Cossacks must escape northern Italy without falling into Soviet hands. Their flight toward the Alps takes them through a landscape threatened by partisans, German troops, and advancing Allied forces.

After Italy’s surrender, British forces occupy islands in the Dodecanese. German mountain troops and paratroopers launch Operation Leopard to retake Leros, forcing the soldiers of Edelweiss into a fierce battle for the island.

Dodenburg takes SS Regiment Wotan into the Egyptian desert during the fighting around El Alamein. A dangerous mission toward Alexandria places his men far from support, with Rommel's orders, the harsh landscape, and a waiting enemy threatening their survival.

Leo Trepper’s communist espionage network operates inside Nazi-controlled Europe while German counterintelligence closes in. Radio operators, rival security agencies, and a traitor within the organization turn its secret work into a struggle for survival.

Stormtroop Edelweiss receives orders to reach Mount Elbrus behind Soviet lines. The soldiers face Cossack opponents and the Red Ravens, a female commando unit, while freezing winds and thin mountain air make their mission increasingly dangerous.

As Allied armies advance through Normandy in 1944, SS Regiment Wotan spearheads a counterattack through the Falaise Gap. Discovering they are heading into a trap, the soldiers struggle to escape France and reach Germany before their pursuers overtake them.

After Germany's defeat, Schirmer tries to escape to South America through a Nazi network. His plans instead draw him toward the French Foreign Legion and one final assignment behind Russian lines with survivors of SS Regiment Wotan.

In 1944, a Nazi assassin known as the Wolf infiltrates a British prisoner-of-war camp. His mission is to uncover preparations for the coming invasion of Europe, setting off a contest of deception against those trying to stop him.

As the German army retreats from the Russian front, Sergeant Steiner faces another desperate struggle. Torn between loyalty to his country and the ambition and madness of his superiors, the veteran becomes involved in an attempt to end the war.

In May 1940, Rommel's Seventh Panzer Division drives across France toward the Channel. Major Kranz becomes stranded without his tank, caught between the sea and the fighting as the offensive threatens to leave him behind in this war novel.

Leo Kessler and Eric Taylor reconstruct the German bombing of York on April 29, 1942. Their account combines eyewitness recollections, documents, and the experiences of attackers and residents to examine the city's ordeal during the Baedeker raids.

Colonel Donath's Eighth Machine-Gun Battalion enters the North African campaign under Rommel. Fighting around Mechili and Tobruk brings its soldiers into contact with Italian allies and Senussi fighters as desert warfare tests their discipline and survival in this novel.

During the invasion of France, SS Regiment Wotan is ordered to pursue an escaping French general. His survival could change the course of the fighting, turning the hunt into a dangerous race for the German soldiers in this military novel.

In spring 1944, Tito's forces and their Soviet alliance threaten German control in Yugoslavia. Hitler orders Stormtroop Edelweiss to eliminate the partisan leader, sending Stuermer's men into the mountains of Bosnia and Montenegro on a hazardous mission.

In 1943, Hitler orders Stormtroop Edelweiss to assassinate Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill at their Tehran conference. Colonel Stuermer leads his men across the Elburz Mountains, confronting Soviet patrols and local tribes in a fictional mission he considers nearly suicidal.

Schulze and Matz lead the surviving soldiers of SS Regiment Wotan after fighting on the Russian front. As the Reich falters, a new commander gives them an assignment against fellow German soldiers, testing loyalties already strained by the war.

In 1944, Himmler orders Stormtroop Edelweiss to transport a fortune in diamonds through wartorn Europe toward Argentina. He hopes to finance a continuing Nazi war, but Stuermer's soldiers develop plans of their own for the valuable cargo.

During the Normandy fighting, Dodenburg's soldiers and young Hitler Youth recruits defend positions near Caen. A retreat intended to save lives violates Hitler's orders, leaving the commander facing punishment unless his men can regain the ground they abandoned.

Charles Whiting and Eric Taylor examine Yorkshire's experience of the Second World War, combining text with illustrations. Their account considers both the conflict's impact on the county's people and Yorkshire's contribution to the wider war effort.

Schulze, Matz, and SS Regiment Wotan are surrounded by Soviet forces on the freezing Russian front. Abandoned by their senior officers, the men confront tanks, Cossacks, and bitter weather as they search for a way out of the encirclement.

Rogue Otto Stahl would rather dodge military service than fight, but joining German military intelligence brings its own dangers. A failed assassination assignment and trouble at the Belgian border entangle him in wartime adventures in this comic novel.

Former SS officer Schirmer and his surviving soldiers join the French Foreign Legion in Indochina. Ordered to hunt Ho Chi Minh's Death Volunteers, the veterans enter the Massacre Valley, where their mission threatens to become a trap.

In January 1942, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau lie at Brest under Admiral Cilliax's command. Ordered to dash through the English Channel or face destruction, their crews prepare for a dangerous passage threatened by the Royal Navy in this naval novel.

In 1942, Himmler sends Colonel Stuermer and Stormtroop Edelweiss toward neutral Afghanistan. Their fictional mission through Kabul aims to open a route into India, drawing the mountain soldiers into a scheme against British rule far from their usual battlefields.

In June 1941, Otto Stahl and the Count become involved in Germany's invasion of Russia. Their schemes help shape the fighting at Miropol, but surviving the campaign's bitter winter presents a different challenge in this comic wartime adventure.

Otto Stahl hides in a mobile field brothel in northern France, hoping to sit out the war. Capture by British commandos sends the resourceful schemer to a prisoner-of-war camp in England, where staying comfortable becomes a new comic challenge.

This fictional chronicle follows SS Regiment Wotan through the European battlefields of 1939 to 1945. Ambitious commanders, disillusioned officers, and soldiers bound to their comrades navigate brutal combat, personal appetites, and the growing pressure to survive Germany's war.

In Norway in 1940, inexperienced British troops face German mountain soldiers in the snow. Stuermer's Edelweiss unit joins the struggle, as the ambitions of commanders and the punishing conditions shape a campaign fought far from the familiar European fronts.

The fictional First SS Stuka Squadron attempts a strike against Buckingham Palace during the Battle of Britain. Reassigned to support the attack on Crete, its pilots travel through occupied Yugoslavia, where partisans threaten their journey by rail.

Otto Stahl and Count von der Weide join an Ardennes operation disguised as American soldiers. Their sabotage assignments include a bridge over the Meuse, while a secret mission against Eisenhower makes their wartime masquerade even more dangerous.

In 1943, Otto Stahl and the Count are recruited into American counterintelligence during preparations for the invasion of Sicily. Their comic misadventures unfold amid the rivalry between Patton and Montgomery, whose competing ambitions complicate an already hazardous assignment.

Recruited from German prisoner-of-war camps, Schirmer's former SS soldiers spend years fighting for the French Foreign Legion in Indochina. Their transfer to Algeria brings another colonial conflict, where the hardened veterans are tasked with suppressing a new uprising.

In 1940, young aristocratic pilots join a fictional SS Stuka squadron under veteran commander Greim. Their missions support Rommel's advance and bring them against British ships attempting to rescue the trapped Fifty-First Highland Division from the French coast.

In August 1943, American bombers approach the oil refineries at Ploesti, unaware that German forces are waiting. Stormtroop Edelweiss's mission to sabotage aircraft in the Libyan desert connects the soldiers' dangerous covert work with the approaching air raid.

On the Eastern Front in winter 1944, a Stuka squadron struggles against Soviet encirclement and bitter cold. Commander de la Maziere falls into partisan hands, where a group led by the widowed Red Rose threatens his survival.

Late in the war, Otto Stahl and the Count become involved with American fliers fighting the Nazi Werewolf underground. A mission toward Himmler's hideout entangles the pair in another dangerous scheme in this comic continuation of their wartime adventures.

On the Russian front in 1943, Colonel Greim must protect inexperienced teenage Stuka pilots from faster Soviet fighters and mobile antiaircraft guns. A new weapon and assignment offer the battered squadron a chance to survive the changing air war.

After the Moscow campaign leaves SS Wotan depleted, Kuno von Dodenburg must train fresh recruits alongside exhausted veterans. Their next assignment is an offensive between the Don and Donets, intended to open the route to Soviet oil.

After Allied troops land in southern France in August 1944, General Wiese orders a retreat north. SS Regiment Wotan must cover the withdrawing forces as they attempt to reach their comrades in Normandy before the Allied advance closes their route.

As British and American troops land at Salerno in September 1943, SS Regiment Wotan prepares a counterattack. Commander Geier hopes to drive the invaders back into the sea, but Italy's changing allegiance complicates his plans in this war novel.

In 1939, young submariner Christian Jungblut joins U-69 and a German attack against the British fleet at Scapa Flow. When the mission brings devastating retaliation, casualties among his superiors force the novice to confront unexpected responsibilities aboard the stricken submarine.

In 1944, a disastrous Allied invasion rehearsal off Devon gives German submariners a chance to disrupt preparations for D-Day. Christian Jungblut and his crew face another dangerous mission as both sides struggle to seize the initiative.

Christian Jungblut is ordered to take a missile-carrying submarine within range of New York and strike a target identified by a German agent. With an inexperienced crew, he must cross hostile waters while Allied intelligence races to stop him.

Churchill sails aboard the Prince of Wales for a secret meeting with Roosevelt off Canada, hoping to draw America into the war. German naval intelligence learns of the voyage and prepares a submarine attack across the Atlantic.

This biography follows SS officer Jochen Peiper through his wartime command, prosecution over the Malmedy massacre, imprisonment, and postwar life. Kessler examines the controversial soldier's career and the circumstances surrounding his death in 1976.

Retreating through the Vosges in 1944, the depleted SS Wotan regiment receives orders to create confusion behind Allied lines. An African American battalion is assigned to confront them as the Germans prepare their Ardennes offensive.

Three reluctant recruits in Germany's Fourth Grenadier Regiment band together against their brutal superiors and the Nazi regime. Assigned to kitchen duty, they face a dangerous crossing of the Rhine and an assault on the Maginot Line.

Christian Jungblut and the crew of U-70 must hunt the Soviet flagship Stalin in the Black Sea. Their captain's ambition, a damaged submarine, and relentless Russian pursuit threaten their chances of returning to Germany.

In occupied France after Dunkirk, three rebellious soldiers of the Fourth Grenadier Regiment face another confrontation with British forces. A planned British landing threatens their sector, but German commanders learn of the operation and prepare a trap.

After Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland in 1941, Nazi leaders fear he may reveal their plans for invading Russia. SS Wotan is assigned to recover him from British custody, while conflicting interests threaten the mission.

Three German soldiers desert and attempt to escape from the feared Camp Death through a secret tunnel. Their flight becomes a prolonged chase as they struggle to evade capture and find a route to freedom.

During the bitter Russian winter of 1942, the Fourth Grenadiers are cut off far behind German lines. Instead of retreating, they are ordered to advance and relieve the exhausted remnants of an encircled division.

In summer 1939, SS Wotan is assembled for a staged attack on the Gleiwitz radio station to justify invading Poland. Meanwhile, British agents enter Germany to steal an Enigma machine, unaware that the Gestapo anticipates their arrival.

As Germany seeks access to Iraqi oil during the Second World War, SS Wotan is sent to support rebels against British control. An attack on a British air base draws the regiment into a difficult desert campaign.

As Berlin collapses in 1945, Martin Bormann plans to escape with wealth stolen from the Reichsbank. He enlists SS Wotan as an escort, but the regiment's veterans have their own ideas about surviving the dying Reich.

SS Wotan leads the German advance toward Moscow in 1941, with orders to reach the Kremlin. As winter closes in and the offensive falters, von Dodenburg and his men face a desperate struggle for survival.

SS Wotan is sent into Yugoslavia as German forces attempt to crush Tito's resistance movement. The regiment's campaign unfolds amid partisan warfare and the competing political interests surrounding the struggle for control of the region.

With D-Day approaching, von Dodenburg believes the Allies will land in Normandy despite his superiors' expectations. He risks punishment for disobedience by preparing his own strike against the invasion, putting his command and life at stake.

In March 1945, a series of killings unsettles Allied forces as Nazi Germany nears defeat. The attacks are traced to the underground Werewolf movement, and the SAS must confront the threat before it spreads.

Kessler examines German special forces during the Second World War, including the Brandenburgers and Otto Skorzeny's commandos. Drawing on contact with survivors, he recounts infiltration, sabotage, and raids carried out behind enemy lines.

Trapped at Stalingrad, SS Wotan faces starvation, Soviet forces, and Hitler's demand that the army fight to the end. An attempt to break out forces the regiment to contend with danger from its own side as well.

When men of SS Wotan are captured on the frozen Russian front, von Dodenburg faces orders forbidding surrender. He must choose between abandoning his soldiers, dealing with the enemy, or attempting a hazardous escape.

In the closing months of the war, von Dodenburg must escort a valuable shipment of diamonds through American-held territory in the Vosges. The exhausted SS Wotan regiment must reach Lorient, where a submarine awaits the cargo.

Captured by American forces after the Battle of the Bulge, Kuno von Dodenburg faces prosecution over the Malmedy massacre. Schulze and Matz attempt to rescue their commander before the threatened trial can determine his fate.

SS Wotan is chosen to spearhead a winter offensive toward Antwerp, but von Dodenburg doubts that heavy tanks can negotiate Belgium's mountain roads. His unauthorized reconnaissance unfolds amid plans, deception, and the prospect of an Allied trap.

Two British operatives and an American go behind German lines to assassinate a heavily guarded Nazi leader. With a dangerous political plot in motion, the men's hidden pasts and the possibility of betrayal threaten their mission.

In April 1940, von Dodenburg recruits SS Wotan volunteers for a secret operation in Norway involving the vital Narvik ore railway. British troops, local resistance, and harsh weather threaten the mission as rival powers contest the supply route.

Decades after Mussolini's death, documents emerge that threaten Winston Churchill's reputation and reveal politically dangerous wartime secrets. People determined to obtain or suppress the papers draw the struggle into a confrontation over Britain's past.

Eisenhower plans to draw German troops out of the Westwall and use Patton's army to strike their flank. Political intrigue and opposing interests threaten the offensive, while Patton himself becomes a target for elimination.

As Nazi Germany collapses, an SS officer plans to move stolen gold from Hitler's Alpine refuge to South America. Mallory's Marauders pursue him while other Allied forces and opportunists race toward the Eagle's Nest.

SS Wotan captures American general Hank Horowitz during the Battle of the Bulge, putting important Allied military secrets at risk. As his captors prepare to interrogate him, the Allies organize a rescue from German custody.

Otto Skorzeny plans to assassinate Eisenhower during a celebration where musicians from Glenn Miller's band will perform. The scheme connects an undercover operation with the bandleader's disappearance as the Germans prepare the Battle of the Bulge.

On Christmas Eve 1944, men of the battered 101st Airborne Division are ordered to link up with Patton's advancing armor. With another German offensive looming, they must cross enemy lines to help save their division.

After a failed plot against Hitler, British intelligence officer Dalby is captured and later murdered inside Colditz. His former colleague Mackenzie is drawn into a secret struggle within the war when Churchill assigns him a new mission.

Lieutenant Washington Lee discovers a plan for German prisoners in Britain to escape as the Battle of the Bulge begins. Unable to persuade his superiors, he goes absent without leave to track down the organizers himself.

As the British army retreats toward Dunkirk, Dalby and Mackenzie hunt German spies reporting troop movements. A brothel used for espionage and an unidentified radio operator become targets in their effort to protect the evacuation.

SS Wotan's survivors are assigned to strengthen a division of teenage Hitler Youth volunteers before the Allied invasion. Fearing the young soldiers will be sacrificed, von Dodenburg faces a dilemma when generals propose assassinating Hitler.

Defector Charley Kane and other disaffected Americans join SS veterans in a plan to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Tehran. The mission brings uneasy partners together in a conspiracy threatened by divided loyalties.

A murderer targets women in uniform on London's blacked-out streets in 1942, leaving an American Rangers badge at each crime. The investigation threatens wartime relations between Britain and the United States, bringing pressure from Churchill.

In this wartime novel, SS Regiment Wotan is sent toward Iraq as Hitler plans a Middle Eastern link with Japan. Geier and von Dodenburg must reach the British base at Habbaniyah despite perilous desert conditions.

During the siege of Leningrad, Hitler orders elite Wotan troops to approach through Finland and surprise Soviet defenses around Lake Ladoga. The regiment faces forests, snow, and heavy losses in a fictional campaign driven by rival dictators.

To restore morale after the stalled advance on Moscow, German leaders propose planting a swastika on Mount Elbrus. Elite climbers must face hostile local tribes and Russian mountaineers approaching from the other side.

In April 1945, Montgomery presses his campaign across northern Germany as Soviet forces advance from the east. Denied the men and supplies he wants by Eisenhower, he pursues victory in the closing battles of the war.

In North Africa in 1943, an ailing Rommel seeks a final victory against newly arrived American forces. Captain Scharf leads a Brandenburger unit across the desert, while a British officer struggles to warn the Americans.

Soldiers of the SS Wotan fight across Europe's battlefields, bound by loyalty to Hitler and to one another. This wartime adventure follows a unit whose military reputation is inseparable from brutality, violence, and the demands of service to Nazi Germany.

SS commander Kuno von Dodenburg and American intelligence officer Captain Lawson face a shared enemy in wartime Europe. Their campaigns converge around Schloss Hartmanstein, a fortified castle in the Siegfried Line, with Schulze and Matz alongside Wotan.